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Sunday, November 28, 2010

Dodgers 'eyeing' Juan Uribe... for some reason

Ken Gurnick of dodgers.com said the Dodgers are interested in Juan Uribe.

Oh boy.

All that damn clutchiness Uribe displayed in the playoffs really piqued Ned Colletti's interest. Earlier in the off-season, a tweet by Enrique Rojas of ESPN said the Dodgers were looking at Edgar Renteria for their second base opening.

I said in my last post I wanted to see the Dodgers involved in rumors for a bat, but I was thinking more along the lines of Adam Dunn, Adrian Beltre or a player via trade -- not some washed-up, free-swinging middle infielders.

I also have to take exception with this comment from the article:

"The addition of Uribe not only would weaken San Francisco but provide the Dodgers with a needed veteran power bat for the middle of the lineup."

OK, the first part of the statement is true. Uribe is a versatile player and would hurt the Giants' depth. However, the second part couldn't be more off-base. Middle of the lineup? Are you kidding me? Uribe would bat sixth at very best with the current Dodgers' lineup.

In his off-season plan post on Mike Scocia's Tragic Illness, Mike said he would sign Uribe for one year, $5 million and a club option for 2012.

"Uribe's not perfect. But for $4-5m, would you rather a low-OBP guy with zero power and decent defense, or a low-OBP guy with good power and plus defense? Now, it's possible I'm short-changing the contract Uribe would get here, but he was horrendous in 2007 and '08, to the point where he had to take a minor-league deal before 2009."

The "low-OBP guy with zero power and decent defense" is Ryan Theriot. These are valid points. At the time this was written (Oct. 11), Uribe had yet to "clutch up" in the playoffs. Now, Uribe's market value has increased and no longer makes sense for the Dodgers -- especially a multiyear deal.

I know the Dodgers aren't going to land a Carl Crawford or Adrian Gonzalez, but they have to be able to do better than Uribe. The money it would take to sign Uribe could be used to acquire Dunn, Beltre or someone else while letting Ivan De Jesus have a shot at second base.

Uribe's versatility is enticing, but his .300 OBP and free-swinging ways are not. The Dodgers need to invest their resources better this off-season. The rotation is shored up and Colletti did a good job there. He still thinks the Dodgers need a reliever, even though the Dodgers' current contingent could do just fine. However, other than these washed-up players, the Dodgers have not been involved in any rumors for a big bat. I know big bats don't grow on trees, but it'd be nice to hear the Dodgers connected to an impact power hitter.